A holy river returns, seven lives change course ''A writer we will be talking about for years to come'' Neel Mukherjee Centuries ago, the holy river Saraswati flowed through what is now Punjab. Many dismiss this as myth, but when Satnam arrives in his ancestral village for his grandmother''s funeral, he finds water in the dried-up well behind her house. The discovery sets in motion a contentious scheme to unearth the lost river as an act of Hindu nationalist pride. The river changes the course of Satnam''s life, and those of six others. As legends and histories resurface, the distant relatives - from a Canadian eco-saboteur to a Mauritian pest exterminator to a Bollywood stunt double - are brought together in a rapidly changing India. Ambitious, moving and brimming with folklore, Saraswati is a tour de force from one of Britain''s most feted young writers. ''A new talent of the kind that comes along rarely'' Observer

Vorwort
A masterpiece debut novel from one of the UK's most exciting young writers, for fans of David Mitchell and Zadie Smith

Autorentext
Gurnaik Johal is a writer from West London. His 2022 collection We Move won the Somerset Maugham Award and the Tata Literature Live! Prize. Its opening story won the Galley Beggar Short Story Prize. Saraswati is his debut novel.

Klappentext

AN OBSERVER BEST NEW NOVELIST 2025
SHORTLISTED FOR THE WATERSTONES DEBUT FICTION PRIZE 2025

A BOOK OF THE YEAR IN THE INDEPENDENT, TELEGRAPH, NERVE AND GUARDIAN

'An ambitious, stylishly delivered novel ... Reminiscent of Salman Rushdie' OBSERVER

'Johal has written a major novel, and at his very first attempt' TELEGRAPH, 5-STAR REVIEW

'Saraswati is a major achievement, and Johal a huge talent. One of the biggest novels of the year' Martin MacInnes, Booker-longlisted author of In Ascension

Centuries ago, the myths say, the holy river Saraswati flowed through what is now Northern India. But when Satnam arrives in his ancestral village for his grandmother's funeral, he is astonished to find water in the long-dry well behind her house. The discovery sets in motion a contentious scheme to unearth the lost river and build a gleaming new city on its banks, and Satnam - adrift from his job, girlfriend and flat back in London - soon finds himself swept up in this ferment of Hindu nationalist pride.

As the river alters Satnam's course, so it reveals buried ties to six distant relatives scattered across the globe - from an ambitious writer with her eye on legacy to a Kenyan archaeologist to a Bollywood stunt double - who are brought together in a rapidly changing India. Brimming with love, lush, violence and loss, Gurnaik Johal's magisterial debut deftly animates the passions that bind us to our histories, our lands and each other.